Sanders, Spanos to meet on Chargers stadium

Such private meetings between the two are rare, often significant

Whatever Spanos and Sanders will talk about, it does seem that because of the two issues Fabiani raises and a renewed focus on L.A., the issue of whether to build -- and how to pay for -- a potentially $800 million stadium for the Chargers east of Petco Park is being discussed more than ever, at least by fans and taxpayers.

(Need a reminder on the CBA and redevelopment? A labor dispute and the end of the NFL's current collective bargaining agreement could lead to a lockout March 4. And a showdown is looming in state government over Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to eliminate redevelopment agencies and with them, a way to pay for the Chargers stadium in downtown San Diego and projects statewide.)

If you're still with me, here's a rundown of some other recent Fabiani comments. On Feb. 10, Fabiani participated in a roughly 70-minute live chat on sdstadium.org, a website promoting a new Chargers' San Diego stadium, and later that day he talked to Darren Smith on XX1090 radio for nearly half an hour.

Fabiani told Smith and by extension fans and taxpayers the date to keep in mind is November 2011, or a year before the team and mayor want to see voters weigh in on any stadium deal between the team and city. Said Fabiani:

If we're not on the street corner in late January 2012 then we're not going to make the November 2012 election, so that's the key date and of course prior to that, we've got to draft the ballot measure and run it by the city and the lawyers and everybody else. So if we're not doing that stuff at the end of the year 2011, we're not going to be on the ballot, so you're going to know well before November 2012 whether we're going to be on the ballot. You'll probably know in November 2011, you know, what? Just eight months from now.

Fabiani also told Smith he is optimistic that redevelopment agencies won't disappear.

I think there's going to be a compromise in Sacramento on the redevelopment, as I've said, and I think that will then lead to a discussion with the city once the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) is resolved about how much the Chargers can put in, how much the NFL can put in and then we need to see how much the city's willing to put in. And I think that's going to be a difficult negotiation, a difficult discussion, but we're looking forward to it.

For the obsessed, a link to a podcast of the interview is here. Also, see below for an Excel document with a transcript from sdstadium.org of its live chat. In that venue, Fabiani answered questions and laid out a time line for the earliest a new stadium could open for business in downtown San Diego, which would be 2018.